Department of Spanish & Portuguese

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Gordon, Leslie S. (PhD - 2008, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Areas of investigation and interest: Second language phonological perception and acquisition, second language perception and production, second language pedagogy and curricular development

Currently Assistant Professor at Washington & Lee University, building new Linguistics core curriculum and consulting on developement of new assessment models at the department and university level.

Personal memories of GU:  bonding with some of my now closest friends over those hair-pulling syntactic trees; nightmares that those same trees would chase me through a dark forest; discovering a much-feared professor can become a great ally; having Prof Leow ask every semester if my husband and I were ready for kids yet (he was one of the first I
told when my daughter came along!).



Greenslade, Terri A. (PhD - 2001, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Areas of investigation and interest:  Second language acquisition, Second language pedagogy, L2 writing, the Critical Period Hypothesis, internet plagiarism in second-language contexts

I am currently the Assistant Director of Language Instruction in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to directing the intermediate language program, I teach: Methods of Teaching College Spanish, Intro to Hispanic Linguistics, Spanish Grammar and Composition and intermediate language courses.

Personal memories of GU: spending long nights reading the material for class over and over trying to figure out how relativized minimality and optimality theory would impact my future!; meeting some of my dearest friends through the program, including my husband; Cristina's generosity and patience in working long-distance as my dissertation director; assisting Dr. Leow in supervising the Basic language program which combined my administrative interests with language teaching and gave me invaluable experience when I entered the job market; traveling to Ecuador with the summer program; looking back and seeing that this program was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life, personally and professionally – well worth the investment and the effort.

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Lado, Beatriz (Bea) (PhD - 2008, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Main interest: the interaction between external (e.g., type of feedback and degree of explicitness in pedagogical interventions)and internal variables (e.g., prior language experience and cognitive capacity) in the development of a non-primary language.
Other interests:  the role of technology in SLA including the effects of computer mediated communication, effects of verbalizations (i.e., reactivity) on language processing, and language policy.

I am currently  Assistant Professor at the University of San Diego (USD) in the Department of Languages and Literatures where I coordinate all the language programs and teach  Linguistics and Language Teaching Methodology courses for all language majors and minors.

The years I spent at Georgetown were some of the most exciting and enriching of my life, not only because they gave me the chance to grow both intellectually and personally but also because they allowed me to meet wonderful people (professors, colleagues, and friends) that will be in my life forever. My advice to new people: take advantage of everything Georgetown and DC have to offer, you will certainly miss it when you leave!!

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Mayer, Kaylea (PhD - 2008, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Areas of investigation and interest: Second language acquisition (SLA), effects of practice versus exposure on L2 development, effects of explicit versus implicit exposure on L2 development

Currently Lecturer of Spanish at Bryn Mawr College. I teach undergraduate Spanish courses and coordinate the intermediate Spanish program.

Personal memories of GU: The close friendships with colleagues, the various stages of drawings for my dissertation study, the highly motivated students, the high quality of instruction in my applied and theoretical linguistics classes.

Recommendation: Welcome constructive criticism. Focus on the product, but take some time for yourself in the midst of all of the writing. Enjoy the teaching and realize the impact you have on your students' attitude.  



Moreno, Nina (PhD - 2007, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Areas of investigation and interest: Second language acquisition (SLA), computer-assisted language learning (CALL), effects of feedback on SLA, task-based learning, teacher training.

Currently Assistant Professor of Spanish and Pedagogy at the University of South Carolina, teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses of Spanish, Linguistics and Methodology; supervising graduate teaching assistants, working in the new articulation process of the Spanish Program in the Dept. of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures.

Personal memories of GU: The cherished friendships, grading at coffee shops in Dupont Circle and Rosslyn, teaching Spanish to my super Hoyas (Roycito, Joncito y Morgancito), the summer Spanish program in Quito, picture taking sessions for my dissertation, fearing that "Georgetown forever" might really mean *forever* (and now realizing it all went by so fast!).

Recommendation: Do pilot testing (for Appl Lx)! Make time to work and also time to play... you'll go insane if you don't.

Morgan-Short, Kara (PhD – 2007, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

A Neurolinguistic Investigation of Late-Learned Second Language Knowledge: The Effects of Explicit and Implicit Conditions

Mentors: Cristina Sanz, Michael Ullman, Karsten Steinhauer

Areas of investigation: My current research focuses on the investigation of the cognitive underpinnings of adult second language acquisition (SLA) in light of theories and models from the fields of cognitive (neuro)science and SLA. In particular, my research uses behavioral assessments and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to address the following issues in SLA : (a) the role of explicit and implicit knowledge and the effects of explicit and implicit training conditions, (b) the role of attention and awareness, and (b) the role of types of practice.

I currently have a position as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I hold a joint appointment with the Department of Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese and the Department of Psychology. I also established and direct the Electrophysiology of Language Acquisition and Processing laboratory.

Personal memories of Georgetown: The Spanish Linguistics program at Georgetown offered me the opportunity and support to pursue whatever interested me academically, including neurolinguistic research. I consider it a real privilege to have been offered these opportunities. Apart from the invigorating and challenging academic experiences, I also enjoying the personal relationships that I developed as well as the great mix of city and nature, culture and fun that is found in the DC area.

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Stafford, Catherine (Cathy) A. (PhD 2005, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Spanish & Portuguese; core faculty member of the University’s SLA Program

Asst. Professor, teaching undergraduate classes in Spanish phonetics and general linguistics and graduate classes in SLA-related topics, issues in bilingualism, descriptive morphosyntax

My research interests include L2 and L3 acquisition of morphosyntax and the influence of bilingualism, working memory and age on language learning in adulthood. Now that I’m a Midwesterner, I’ve become interested also in how/if Spanish-English bilingual college students maintain balanced bilingualism into adulthood.

At Georgetown, the people were (and continue to be) without a doubt the richest part of the experience, from truly inspiring professors to dear friends who have all left their mark both personally and professionally.

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Yanguas, Íñigo (PhD 2007, Spanish Applied Linguistics)

Early interests took me down the path of motivation in SLA, which I then applied to the field of Spanish as a heritage language. Still very much interested in this internal (and evasive!) variable, nowadays I am also looking at different aspects of Computer Assisted Language Learning.

I am currently Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish Language Program at San Diego State University. I teach both undergraduate and graduate classes for our M.A. program. As Director of
the language program, among other things, I am in charge of coordinating and supervising TAs as well as making sure our program is pedagogically sound.

What can I say about my years at GU? They rate among the best in my student career, they went from great (that first year can be tough!) to awesome (and still very tough). I love Washington DC and I made some very good friends both within the department (faculty and students alike) and outside the department. No money can pay what I got out of GU